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December
2003

Is Violence Against Women a Political Issue?by Laura Kamienski

CardioKicks!
Fitness Tip of the Month

Many of those working in the anti-violence
movement today consider violence against women a personal issue first
and only secondarily a political issue. Others recognize violence against
women as a political issue, but narrowly define rape and battering as
isolated phenomena, disconnected from larger issues of oppression and violence.
This tendency is part of a retreat by the women's movement. It is a result
of reactionary backlash and ongoing attacks that threaten the gains made
by feminists throughout history.

Violence against women is first and foremost
a political issue.

Every form of oppression has a corresponding
form of violence. For women that violence is manifested as rape and battering.
Violence against women is a systematic and structural method of maintaining
the oppression of women. Oppression is
part of how a privileged group rules. It is a part of the superstructure
of society. From this perspective,
ideas like racism, sexism, anti-gay bigotry, national chauvinism,
religious chauvinism, etc., are all features of how the
status quo articulates its ideological hegemony, its dominance,
over society as a whole. Oppression serves a specific
group of people by dividing and weakening those who are struggling for equality.
Oppression includes both ideological and material elements, and
it crosses class lines.

Domestic violence and sexual assault are deeply
connected to other issues of oppression and violence.

To the extent that economic issues and
children have an impact on a battered woman's strategy for escape,
affirmative action and reproductive rights are directly related and
central to the struggle, yet many women's organizations refuse to even
consider discussing the issue of abortion or affirmative action. What
battered women need -- access to affordable housing, living-wage jobs,
free and accessible child care -- (not that much different than what
all women need to lead independent lives) is not something that will be
provided by either shelter services or arresting batterers. Individualizing,
personalizing or reducing the issue of sexist violence to gender roles
and safe dating practices isn't going to end battering or rape, which are
(and always have been) tools of systematic sexism. And, since not
all survivors are white or middle class, rape and battering are also
(as they always have been) issues of racism and economic inequality. **
The history of the Battered Women's Shelter
Movement is deeply conjoined with the women's liberation movement. This
issue of the Dojang Digest is dedicated to women who
have struggled and who continue to struggle to end the oppression of
women and the violence that maintains it.
There are two articles describing the history
of the battered women's shelter movement reprinted in this issue courtesy
of the Florida Coalition
Against Domestic Violence. The Dojang Digest would like to extend
our our solidarity with and sincerest gratitude for all their invaluable
contributions toward ending violence against women.

Highlights of
Movement to End Domestic Violencecompiled by the Florida Coalition
Against Domestic Violence *

1971:

Movement first gains momentum
in England, as Chiswick Women’s Aid, the first identified shelter
opens.

1972:

Women’s Advocates in St.
Paul, Minnesota starts the first hotline for battered women. Women’s
Advocates and Haven House in Pasadena, California, establish the
first shelters for battered women.

1974:

Erin Pizzey publishes Scream
Quietly or the Neighbors will Hear in England, the first book about
domestic violence from the battered women’s perspective.

1976:

NOW announces the formation
of a task force, co-chaired by Del Martin, to examine the problem
of battering. It demands research into the problem and money for shelters.

Betsy Warrior publishes
Working on Wife Abuse, the first national directory of individuals
and groups helping battered women.

Nebraska becomes the first
state to abolish the marital rape exemption.

Pennsylvania establishes
the first state coalition against domestic violence. It also becomes
the first state to create a statute providing for orders of protection
for victims of domestic violence.

First national conference
on battered women is held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sponsored by the
Milwaukee Task Force on Battered Women.

1977:

National Communications
Network For The Elimination of Violence Against Women, (NCN), the
first national newsletter on battered women, is published. The following
year, NCN merges with the Feminist Alliance Against Rape to publish
Aegis, the magazine on ending violence against women, a grassroots
feminist forum on rape, battering, and other issues of violence affecting
women.

Oregon becomes the first
state to enact legislation mandating arrest in domestic violence
cases.

1978:

U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights holds “Consultation on Battered Women” in Washington, D.
C., brings together hundreds of activists and results in Battered
Women: Issues Of Public Policy, which offers more than 700 pages
of written and oral testimony.

National Coalition Against
Domestic Violence (NCADV), the grassroots organization, which becomes
the voice of the battered women’s movement on the national level,
is organized. NCADV establishes the vision and philosophy which will
guide the development of hundreds of local battered women’s programs
and state coalitions. It initiates the introduction of the Family Violence
Prevention and Services Act in the U. S. Congress.

Minnesota becomes the first
to allow probable cause (warrantees) arrest in cases of domestic assault,
regardless of whether a protection order has been issued against the
offender.

1979:

Office on Domestic Violence
is established in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but
is closed in 1981.

First congressional hearings
on the issue of domestic violence are held.

1980:

First National Day of Unity
in October is established by NCADV to mourn battered women who have
died, celebrate women who have survived the violence, and honor all
who have worked to defeat domestic violence. Becomes Domestic Violence
Awareness Week, and in 1987, expands to a month of awareness activities.

NCADV holds first national
conference in Washington, D.C., which is attended by more than 600
battered women’s advocates from forty-nine (49) states. The conference
gains federal recognition of critical issues facing battered women,
and sees the birth of several state coalitions.

1983:

A Police Foundation study
in Minneapolis, funded by the National Institute of Justice, finds
arrest more effective than two non-arrest alternatives to reducing
the likelihood of repeat violence. The study findings are widely
publicized and provide the impetus for many police departments to
establish pro-arrest policies in cases of domestic violence.

1984:

U.S. Attorney General establishes
Task Force on Family Violence to examine scope and nature of problem.
Nearly 300 witnesses provide testimony in public hearings in six
(6) cities. Final Reports offers recommendations for action in many
areas, including the criminal justice response, prevention and awareness,
education and training, and data collection reporting.

continued in right column...

Discover your
power.

Kicks Martial Arts for Women offers Empower!
courses both on and off site. Our instructors will custom tailor a course
specifically for your group's needs. Whether you are are involved with girl
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course for your group. Contact
us for more information.

Emotional Eating

"I need some comfort food!" How often have we
heard this? How often have we said it! Because it brings feelings of immediate
satisfaction and pleasure, many of us learn that food brings comfort. Because
of this we often eat in an attempt to heal emotionally. Eventually we develop
the habit of eating under stress instead of learning skills to resolve
our emotional distress.
Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused
by emotions. Foods are usually "comfort" or junk foods and are eaten in
response to such feelings as depression, boredom, loneliness, chronic
anger, anxiety, frustration, stress, problems with interpersonal relationships
and poor self-esteem. Emotional eating can result in overeating and unwanted
weight gain.
With help we can learn to identify what triggers
our eating, we can substitute more appropriate techniques to manage
our emotional problems. Healthy eating habits are essential to maintain
a healthy body. Learning to eat when we're hungry and paying attention
to our bodies hunger signals is one method of discovering if we're eating
emotionally or not.

Upcoming
Events

Kicks' 2004 class schedule will be in effect beginning on
December 1st, 2003. Click here for details.

The next
rank test will be held on December 13th at 2:00 PM. Good luck to
all of those who are testing!

Kicks will be closed beginning
December 22nd in honor of the holiday season. Normal class schedule
will resume on Tuesday, January 6th, 2004.

The History of
the Battered Women's Shelter MovementCourtesy of the Florida Coalition Against
Domestic Violence *

Domestic Violence was not recognized as a pervasive social
problem in this country until the mid-1970’S, when a grassroots
battered women’s movement gained momentum. Inspired by the feminist
anti-rape movement’s analysis of male violence against women as a
social and political issue, battered women began to speak out about
the physical abuse they were suffering in their marriages and intimate
relationships.
At first, battered women helped one another
individually by setting up informal safe homes and apartments, in
such an environment - free from intimidation of their abusers - battered
women could speak openly and soon discovered the commonality of
their experience. Their bond lay in their sense of isolation and
need for safety. Moreover, the women were justified in their struggle
against society’s indifference to their plight and the lack of support
from social and justice systems. As the issue was publicized, women
of all races, cultures, ages, abilities, and walks of life began
to expose the violence they suffered. It quickly became clear that
woman battering was a pervasive problem, and a nationwide movement
started to take shape.
The early experience of the movement revealed
the acute need for safe shelter for battered women and their children.
Unless a woman could feel truly safe, she could not effectively evaluate
her situation and make clear decisions about her future. Operating
on shoe-string budgets, battered women’s advocates began to open up
formal programs around the country. Only a handful of such programs
existed in the mid-1970’s: today there are more than 1,400 shelters,
hotlines, and safe-home networks nationwide. Although the programs that
have emerged differ somewhat in philosophy and approach, all share the
conviction that no one deserves to be beaten, and that battered women
need special resources to end the violence in their lives.

The Newsletter for Women Martial Artists
Snap Punch! is a monthly newsletter discussing topics related
to women in the martial arts. Based in the United Kingdom, Snap Punch!
aims to show case different female martial artists of any style. This
is a great networking site for women in the martial arts. Check it out.

...continued from left column

Passage of the Family Violence
Prevention and Services Act, through grassroots lobbying efforts; earmarks
federal funding for programs serving victims of domestic violenc

1985:

Thurman v. Torrington is the first
case in Federal court in which a battered woman sues a city for police
failure to protect her from her husband’s violence. Tracy Thurman, who
remains scarred and partially paralyzed from stab wounds inflicted by
her husband, wins a $2 million judgment against the city. The suit leads
to Connecticut’s passage of its mandatory arrest law.

NCADV establishes the first national
toll-free domestic violence hotline.

First national conference to promote
a dialogue among domestic violence researchers, practitioners
and policymakers is held at the University of New Hampshire.

1988:

State v. Ciskie is
the first case to allow the use of expert testimony to explain
the behavior and mental state of an adult rape victim. The testimony
is used to show why a victim of repeated physical and sexual assault
by her intimate partner would not immediately call the police or take
action. The jury convicts the defendant on four (4) counts of rape.